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Drinking seawater to survive
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A seagull on a glass roof looking really cute. Seagulls are able to drink seawater to survive thanks to salt glands just above their eyes. These glands eliminate excess salt from the seawater and flush it out of the birds' nostrils in liquid form, an action that's often mistaken for a sneeze.
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1933 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
How a heron bird catches fish - hilarious
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Herons also have surprising intellectual abilities; they can use bread to catch fish! It is thought that the birds learn the technique from watching fisherman throw baited hooks and tourists tossing bread to attract fish.
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2659 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
Toxic meat
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African spur-winged geese ( Plectropterus gambensis) become so toxic after eating blister beetles that consuming their flesh can kill a human. Blister beetles (family Meloidae) are toxic due to the presence of a chemical compound called cantharidin. Cantharidin is a potent toxin that these beetles produce and store in their bodies as a defense mechanism against predators. It acts as a powerful irritant and blistering agent when it comes into contact with skin or mucous membranes. The toxicity of blister beetles serves as a deterrent to potential predators, helping them avoid being eaten. ...
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2978 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
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4684 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
Who needs a fridge?
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Male king penguins can store food in their stomachs for three weeks to ensure a supply of food for their chicks.
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11994 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
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5162 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
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13145 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
This gender-bender exhibits strange behaviour
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This bird might look like a holiday ornament, but it is actually a rare half-female, half-male northern cardinal, with female plumage on the left and male on the right. A new study suggests being half-and-half carries consequences: The cardinal didn’t have a mate, and observers never heard it sing.
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16085 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
What's faster, a falcon or a skydiver?
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Watch the fastest animal in the world - a peregrine falcon - effortlessly accelerate to speeds of more than 290 km/h to chase a plummeting skydiver.
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9492 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
Some birds are afraid of butterflies
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It turns out that butterflies with eyelike spots evolved to scare off predators. A recent study concluded that about 68% of the birds that were shown an image with eye-mimicking spots, flew away or showed signs of being startled such as chirping a warning call as they flew in for food (within a controlled setting). That’s on par with the 57% showing the same reactions to the owl with open eyes, the research team notes. The full study can be analyzed in the link below: Source: http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/282/1806/20150202 ...
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31754 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
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10410 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
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4573 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
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1815 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
Nearly every seabird may be eating plastic by 2050
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There’s so much trash floating in some parts of the ocean that each square kilometer of surface water there holds almost 600,000 pieces of debris. Indeed, because there's so much of it, by 2050 birds of almost every ocean-foraging species may be eating plastic.
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30691 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
Who knew hawks were a hummingbird's best friend
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Sometimes it pays to have big, bad neighbors! Tiny black-chinned hummingbirds (shown above) have learned to build their homes near hawk nests. The hawks are too big to be interested in teeny hummingbird eggs, and they scare off the medium-sized birds that are. According to the study, of the 342 hummer nests studied over three years, 80% were near hawk nests - and for good reason. The researchers monitored hummingbird egg and fledgling survival near six active and six inactive hawk nests. Those hummers unlucky enough to be near inactive nests lost all but 8% of their young, while those in a “good” neighborhood had a 70% success rate, they report. Source: http://news.sciencemag.org/plants-animals/2015/09/why-hawk-hummingbird-s-best-friend ...
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12325 |
duddy |
8 years ago |